2 - INTRODUCTIONS

[ INTRODUCTIONS ]

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Expecting light, Murphy opens his eyes slowly, but no bright light came. He blinks a couple of times as his eyes adjust. Feeling a strong grip around his wrists, he moves his hands, only to feel cold metal against his skin. Groaning at the pain that moving had caused him, he glances around his surroundings.

A cave. He realises as he sees the dark rock walls. Glancing down at his wrists, he notices the tight shackles.

   "Hey! Is anyone there?" He croaks. "Y—You're the grounders right? The ones who speared that kid with the goggles?" He tries to develop any sort of response. "Yeah, you should've killed him. He was in pain for days, I'm surprised I didn't kill him myself."

He picks up on a shuffling noise of feet against gravel. "Hey! Show yourself."

   A small chuckle comes from the shadows and then footsteps. Murphy's eyes widen at the sight of her. A girl appears out of darkness, covered in (obvious) grounder armour. She was beautiful. For a grounder. Murphy internally scoffs. She must've hit his head hard.

   "Who are you?" He asks. The girl furrows her brows. Murphy cleared his throat. "Are you going to kill me?" He decides to ask instead, hoping she knows English.

   "If I wanted you dead, I would've killed you by the cliff." She states. Murphy wonders why she doesn't mention him literally begging for her to kill him. But then he realises he's glad she doesn't. He wouldn't know what to say.

   "You speak English," Murphy lets out a breath of relief. "So, that means you can let me go."

   The girl raises an eyebrow. "You are a foolish boy. I didn't hit your head that hard with the rock, did I?"

   Murphy scoffs. "I'm probably smarter than you and all you other cavemen—"

   She takes a step forward, a threatening glare on her face as her knife appears at his neck. "Perhaps I should remove your tongue. Watch your words, Sky boy."

Murphy eyes the blade, swallowing thickly. "Alright, alright. I didn't mean that."

"How is your head, by the way?" She asks him suddenly, her knife lowering as she takes a few steps away. He glances up at her, unamused. What was she, bipolar? One second she was threatening him, the next she was checking up on him.

"You did hit it with a rock, so I'd say. . . hm, I don't know, painful." He glares.

She glares back down at him, lips twitching in annoyance before she scoffs, eyes squinting. "I didn't think of you as a weak boy."

"Well I guess I am," He shrugs. "Guess you'll have to let me go since there is no use for me." Murphy tries to lean and look past her, searching for an entrance. He needed a plan, and he needed one quickly.

   "I can't let you go." She tells him.

   "Yeah? And why not?" A stupid question, really, but if he couldn't fight his way out, maybe he could use his words. Not his strongest characteristic—well at least not in a helpful way. Sometimes.

   The girl is silent for a moment, eyes calculating. "Consider yourself lucky. If it was anyone else as your guard, you'd be dead the second you opened your eyes."

   Murphy clenches his jaw. This Grounder girl wouldn't be easy to deal with. But everyone had a weakness. Murphy's head pounded as he cleared his throat. "Can I ask your name?"

  "I am here to get information and to watch you. Not to be your friend."

   "My name is John Murphy. Call me Murphy."

   She stays silent. Murphy continues. "So. . . I've told you my name. . ." He raises his hands — as much as he can considering his wrists were chained — and gestures between the two of them.

   "My name is none of your business."

   Murphy sighs. "Why didn't you kill me? At the cliff?"

   She glances at him. "I had orders not to." She simply answers. She looks away from his gaze.

   "What were your orders?" Murphy questions. "You bring me here but you don't kill me when I wake up? But anyone else would have? Why?"

   "You ask too many questions, Sky boy." She meets his eyes.

   Murphy's lips twitch up slightly at the name. He clears his throat. "Tell me your name, and I'll stop."

   "Is that so?"

   "Promise." Murphy states dryly.

   Sayah eyes him, staying silent for a moment as she ponders over it. Then she raises her chin and answers. "Sayah. My name is Sayah."

   Murphy nods slowly. Good start. "So, Sayah, will you let me go now?"

   "You said no more questions."

   "I'm not really one for keeping promises," Murphy replies in slight amusement, gaze falling to the gravel.

   Sayah clenches her jaw in annoyance. "Why were you banished, Murphy?"

His eyes snap up to meet hers. "How do you know about that?"

"Doesn't matter. Why were you banished from your people?" She presses, taking a seat on a large boulder.

Murphy scoffs. "What? It's story-time now?" He drawls.

"Unless you have other plans. . ." She looks around the cave then glances at Murphy's chained wrists. "But personally, I don't think you do. So yes, story-time it is." She smiles.

Murphy ignores the feeling he gets in his stomach when she smiles. It was filled with fear. Her smile scared him more than he'd like to admit—she knew what she was doing. Maybe these Grounders, even the girls were tougher than he thought. Was she going to kill him? Why hadn't she yet? Information, surely. That's what they wanted him alive for. "We don't have to be enemies." He says without thinking.

   "Yes we do—" she begins but Murphy cuts her off.

   "No, we don't." Murphy furrows his brows. "Look, I'm sorry we came out of the sky and landed on your territory or whatever you want to call it. . . but we didn't have a choice, okay?"

   "What do you mean?" She tilts her head in interest.

   Murphy sighs and responds, "Let's just say, this isn't the first time I've been a prisoner." He raises his chained wrists to prove his point.

   "I understand your frustration." She tells him. "Not everyone agrees with the Commander and her actions for you and your people—"

   "Wait, the Commander? What? That's like, the leader of you all?"

   "Yes." Sayah nods. "Personally. . ." She hesitates. "Personally, sometimes I don't agree with her actions or decisions with your people."

   "If you disagree with her, why don't you let me go then?" Murphy questions her.

   "I have orders. And I'd prefer not to die, Murphy."

   "Seems you can handle yourself." He states. She stares back at him with a calculating gaze. Murphy avoids it in hopes of stopping the tense feeling in his stomach. Keep her talking and maybe, just maybe when she's distracted, when her guard is down, he can fight his way out of here.

"Now," She clears her throat, shifting slightly in her position to get more comfortable. "Story-time."

"You expect me to just share everything with you?"

"I am permitted to torture you if need be," She says nonchalantly, brows raised.

Murphy lets out a small, annoyed huff, expressing defeat. "Where to start. . ."

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a/n

murphy just wants luvi give him luvtake de luv murphy

^ sayah when murphy continued to ask questions after he "promised" he would stop